Category Archives: OneNote

Paste as text is a simple yet useful thing. If you copy paste from anywhere into OneNote it takes a little longer than usual, especially if it is from a browser page. It also shows progress bars like Contacting the server. In addition, OneNote automatically pastes the URL of the web page at the bottom of the content pasted.

In most cases this is a good thing. But in some cases, you KNOW that you just want to paste as text. In such cases, you have to click Home tab – Paste Special and choose Keep Text Only. If you need this option often, you cannot add it to QAT. Adding the entire dropdown to the QAT defeats the purpose. It still remains a two click operation. But of course, there is a solution.

Chances are – you have seen it while printing documents. But of course, you did not know what it is – so you never clicked on it. It is a very powerful feature of OneNote. Here is how to use it – why to use it and how to use it properly. (Reading time 7 min)

OneNote can have pages and sub-pages. Multiple sub-pages can be selected quickly by double clicking on the Main Page. If the main page is not the currently selected one, triple-click on the main page. (First click is for selecting the page and remaining two clicks are for selecting sub-pages. That makes it a total of 3 clicks!). Notice that you can also collapse and expand sub-pages.

Sub-pages are useful for managing sub-topics to main topics. It is also useful in case of recurring meetings with the same customer or similar topic. In case of students, sub-pages can also be used for assignments associated with specific lectures.

OneNote is going from strength to strength – that too across all kinds of devices. Many of us have handwritten notes. Handwriting search was limited to notes viewed on PC / Windows Tablets earlier. Now it is available on Android and iPad as well.

The only pre-requisite is that the content (the OneNote Notebook) must be stored on OneDrive. If you already have handwritten notes, those will be searchable immediately. If you have actually captured notes just now using Android or iPad, (of course you need a stylus for this), you need to wait for few minutes for the notes to be made searchable.

Try it out. It is amazing.

One Precaution: Make sure you take the notes horizontally. If these are tangential or angled, the recognition is not very effective.

Also remember that the processing of handwriting happens on the OneDrive server. Therefore, you need internet connection for this kind of search to be available.

When you use OneNote across devices, synchronization happens automatically. In some cases, there are conflicting changes which OneNote cannot handle. In this case, it shows a conflict warning. Learn how to resolve these OneNote sync conflicts. (Reading time 4 minutes)

This is a brilliant feature. Often unknown. It is really very simple. Hyperlink usually refers to an external file or web page. But it need not. It can also refer to a part of the current document – provided we can identify the parts. This humble icon packs so much power – we have no idea what we have been missing. I myself learnt so much WHILE writing this article!

Here is a list of OneNote related articles – in recommended reading order. Whether you are just starting with OneNote or you are an experienced user, you will find useful ideas and essential skills while reading these articles. Your feedback is most welcome.